''The Fire Inside'' is an upcoming American
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
sports film
A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport (and the spor ...
by
Rachel Morrison
Rachel Morrison (born April 27, 1978) is an American cinematographer and director. For her work on ''Mudbound'' (2017), Morrison earned a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, making her the first woman ever nominated in that ...
in her
feature directional debut. The film is based on ''T-Rex'', a 2015 documentary about American professional boxer
Claressa "T-Rex" Shields training for the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
.
Ryan Destiny
Ryan may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
*Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
Places Australia
* Division of Ryan, an elector ...
stars as the lead, alongside
Judy Greer
Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress, who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She first rose to prominence in a variety of suppor ...
and
Brian Tyree Henry
Brian Tyree Henry (born March 31, 1982) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX comedy-drama series ''Atlanta'' (2016–2022), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstan ...
.
Development began in October 2016 with
Barry Jenkins
Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American filmmaker. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film ''My Josephine'' (2003), he directed his first feature film ''Medicine for Melancholy'' (2008) for which he received an Indep ...
adapting the documentary for
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
under the title Flint Strong. Morrison joined to direct in June 2019 with
Michael De Luca
Michael De Luca (born August 13, 1965) is an American film studio executive, film producer and screenwriter. The former president of production at both New Line Cinema and DreamWorks, De Luca has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Best ...
, Elishia Holmes, Zackary Canepari, and Drea Cooper to produce alongside Jenkins. Destiny was added in November, and
Ice Cube
An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...
and Greer were cast in early 2020. Filming began in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
in March 2020, but was halted two days later due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. It was scheduled to resume in June 2021. However, Cube left in October and Universal put the film in
turnaround. It was then picked up by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
in May 2022 with Henry and
Oluniké Adeliyi
Oluniké Adeliyi (born January 5, 1977) is a Canadian actress. She appeared in the 2010 horror film ''Saw 3D'' and starred as Leah Kerns in the television series '' Flashpoint''.
Early life
Adeliyi was born in Brampton, Ontario, of Jamaican-Nig ...
joining the cast and filming resuming that month.
''The Fire Inside'' is scheduled to be released in theaters on August 9, 2024, by
Amazon MGM Studios through their
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
label.
Plot
Claressa "T-Rex" Shields trains to box in the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
.
Cast
*
Ryan Destiny
Ryan may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
*Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
Places Australia
* Division of Ryan, an elector ...
as
Claressa "T-Rex" Shields
*
Judy Greer
Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress, who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She first rose to prominence in a variety of suppor ...
*
Brian Tyree Henry
Brian Tyree Henry (born March 31, 1982) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX comedy-drama series ''Atlanta'' (2016–2022), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstan ...
as Jason Crutchfield
*
Oluniké Adeliyi
Oluniké Adeliyi (born January 5, 1977) is a Canadian actress. She appeared in the 2010 horror film ''Saw 3D'' and starred as Leah Kerns in the television series '' Flashpoint''.
Early life
Adeliyi was born in Brampton, Ontario, of Jamaican-Nig ...
as Jackie Shields
*
De'Adre Aziza
De'Adre Danielle Aziza (; born June 14, 1977) is an American actress and singer.
Early life and education
Aziza was born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Donna Avery, retired part-time assistant profe ...
as Mickey
Production
On October 7, 2016,
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
hired
Barry Jenkins
Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American filmmaker. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film ''My Josephine'' (2003), he directed his first feature film ''Medicine for Melancholy'' (2008) for which he received an Indep ...
to adapt the 2015 documentary ''T-Rex'' with the possibility to direct the film. On June 19, 2019,
Rachel Morrison
Rachel Morrison (born April 27, 1978) is an American cinematographer and director. For her work on ''Mudbound'' (2017), Morrison earned a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, making her the first woman ever nominated in that ...
was set to make her directorial debut on ''Flint Strong''; Jenkins would produce with
Michael De Luca
Michael De Luca (born August 13, 1965) is an American film studio executive, film producer and screenwriter. The former president of production at both New Line Cinema and DreamWorks, De Luca has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Best ...
and Elishia Holmes, while Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper, who worked on ''T-Rex'' would serve as executive producers.
On November 13, 2019,
Ryan Destiny
Ryan may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
*Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
Places Australia
* Division of Ryan, an elector ...
was cast as
Claressa "T-Rex" Shields. On February 5, 2020,
Ice Cube
An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...
was cast as Shields' coach, Jason Crutchfield.
Judy Greer
Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress, who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She first rose to prominence in a variety of suppor ...
was added on May 14. However, on October 29, 2021, it was reported that Cube had left the project after refusing to get vaccinated for
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
to film ''Oh Hell No'' (now titled ''Stepdude'') for
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
, putting the film in
turnaround.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began at
Cinespace Film Studios Cinespace Film Studios is a series of film studio facilities founded in 1988, by Greek-Canadian Nick Mirkopoulos. It includes a facility in Vaughan, that has been in operation since the 1960s. In 2007 Mirkopoulos helped his Greek-American nepheAle ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
on March 11, 2020, but on March 13, production was halted due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. In an interview with ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Shields stated that production was set to resume in June 2021. However, the project entered a long delay due to being offloaded by Universal. It would be picked up by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
, and on May 25, 2022,
Brian Tyree Henry
Brian Tyree Henry (born March 31, 1982) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX comedy-drama series ''Atlanta'' (2016–2022), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstan ...
joined the cast to replace Cube and
Oluniké Adeliyi
Oluniké Adeliyi (born January 5, 1977) is a Canadian actress. She appeared in the 2010 horror film ''Saw 3D'' and starred as Leah Kerns in the television series '' Flashpoint''.
Early life
Adeliyi was born in Brampton, Ontario, of Jamaican-Nig ...
joined to play Shields' mother, with filming resuming later that month. On July 6, 2022,
De'Adre Aziza
De'Adre Danielle Aziza (; born June 14, 1977) is an American actress and singer.
Early life and education
Aziza was born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Donna Avery, retired part-time assistant profe ...
joined the cast as Mickey, Crutchfield's wife.
Release
The film is scheduled for release on August 9, 2024.
See also
*
Boxing at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's middleweight
The women's middleweight boxing competition at the 2012 Olympic Games in London was held from 5 to 9 August at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.
For the first time at an Olympic Games, the 10 men's boxing events were joined by three women's events: ...
*
List of boxing films
This is a list of films about boxing, featuring notable sports films where boxing plays a central role in the development of the plot.
The Patent Leather Kid
1927
A self-centered boxer learns the meaning of patriotism on the battlefield durin ...
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, tt6133444
2024 biographical drama films
2024 directorial debut films
2020s American films
2020s English-language films
2020s sports drama films
Amazon MGM Studios films
American biographical drama films
American boxing films
American sports drama films
Biographical films about sportspeople
Cultural depictions of boxers
Film productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Films about the 2012 Summer Olympics
Films about women's sports
Films produced by Michael De Luca
Films scored by Tamar-kali
Films set in 2012
Films set in 2016
Films set in London
Films set in Michigan
Films set in Rio de Janeiro (city)
Films shot in Toronto
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Upcoming directorial debut films
Upcoming English-language films